"I really love that amazing Hands On sculpture. I feel very lucky to have had the chance seeing the early stage of making it in Kevin's studio. I hope to see it being displayed in that perfect spot some day when I come back to Arizona!"
--Lan Griffin, artist, Boston, Massachusetts

How to Weld With a Longevity TIG Welder

The Voice: Hey, Kevin. What in the world are you doing now?

Kevin Caron: Iím playing with these spun metal balls here in the studio, in preparation for a new contemporary art sculpture. The sculpture requires some TIG work, so I'm getting out my Longevity TIG Weld 250 AC/DC for a little TIG welding.

But first I've got to set up the machine. It doesn't take long. Come here and check it out. I need to flip the switch because I've been using this machine on aluminum and now I need to switch it back to steel. You can see right here it's in AC for aluminum welding. Now I'm ready to weld steel. That's all it takes.

I'm going to leave the pulse on high and my pulse current at about 40 amps. My frequency and my width I'll leave alone. The downslope I'll leave alone. Free flow. All that other stuff is set pretty much the way I like it.

Now I need some filler rod for steel and we'll get to play with the TIG for a minute or two.

Have you got the helmet?

The Voice: Yep.

Kevin Caron: Here I have a 1-inch spun metal ball. I drilled a hole in the end of it so it's an open vessel. If this was completely closed, as soon as I started to weld on it, the air inside would super heat and blow the puddle out, leaving me with a big hole to fill. So I drilled a little hole in it and now I can take my piece of half-inch pipe and go right over the top of that hole, then lay a little bead around there.

Got your helmet on? (welding)

OK. Those settings are not going to work.

The Voice: What are you setting it to, Kev?

Kevin Caron: I turned the pulse off and went to straight DC TIG, and we'll try it that way. Nope. Need a little more juice. (welding)

OK. Now Iíll get a little tack weld on there with the TIG, then come back with my rod and lay a bead around there.

The Voice: So, what did you end up setting it to?

Kevin Caron: I went to No Pulse. I turned the pulse all the way off and went to about 58 amps. So now I'll come back with some rod and let's see what we can do.
(welding)

There's another little trick for you: When you've got something that wants to roll away, grab some vice grips. They make great chocks. OK, where were we?
(welding)

So that gets that welded on. No, I'm not going to pick it up with my fingers. Not bad for blind in one eye and can't see out of the other.

Let me play with this metal sculpture some more and you'll see how this turns out in a few days, when I get it all put together.